The Seahawks

Hey, there’s a game today. So how about Seattle? With all their injuries, coach Mike Holmgren is completely out of his element. He said last week in before the Sunday night game against Tampa that he would be conservative because he didn’t want to confuse many of his new players. He’ll probably do the same thing today with Seneca Wallace starting for Matt Hasselbeck.

The Seahawks will probably try and win the game with their special teams, defense, and running game. The one weapon they need to look out for is John Carlson, the rookie tight end. The 49ers always have trouble covering the tight end and Carlson nearly sunk the 49ers in the last meeting. Walt Harris took him often in that Sept. 14 match up and the 49ers might want to do something different there.

Wallace is only 5-10, or 5-11 and he has a little bit of a side-arm delivery, so pushing the pocket and getting hands up will be key for the pass rushers. Seattle will use the bootleg pass constantly with Wallace, who likes being out of the pocket. However, he’s hampered with a calf injury that he sustained in warmups on game day against the 49ers last month.

Defensively, the frenzied, under-sized style hasn’t worked this season for the Seahawks. They’ve been bludgeoned by bigger, badder offenses like the Giants. The design of the defense is to be quick enough to get turnovers. But Seattle didn’t deflect a pass until last Sunday night against the Bucs.

For Cal fans, former Bear running back Justin Forsett was cut by Seattle, picked up by the Colts, then released, and then picked up by Seattle again. Last week he returned kicks against Tampa Bay.